Interesting Tip for Horsetails =]

The " Statutory Conditions" on the Roundup bottle will tell you exactly how you can use it, by following the advice you stay within the law. These apply to professional gardeners and amateurs. If it doesn't specifically say you can't mix it with wallpaper paste then I would say its OK - but I'm Not A Lawyer!

Pesticides are a little different and I wonder if that is what has bean counter is alluding to?
From the RHS site: RHS The Use of Garden Chemicals

"Regulations made under the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985 give legal force to those parts of the manufacturerâ??s instructions that are indicated as being â??statutory conditions of useâ?. This means that it is illegal to use the wrong dilution rate or to use a product for purposes other than those stated in the instructions. A prosecution could follow if careless spraying of plants in flower results in a beekeeper losing his bees. Only products approved by the government can be used as pesticides, so home-made pesticides brewed from concoctions of rhubarb, cigarette butts or even washing-up liquid are now outside the law."

Lots of us use the old fairy liquid spray trick on greenfly, but strictly speaking this is illegal, I can't imagine a circumstance where someone would be prosecuted for this though.

 

Copycat! :hehe:

 

Sorry to get pedantic about this (no I'm not :hehe but it still comes down to a matter of interpretation and common sense.

Disclaimer: this is only my personal opinion and not that of Gardeners Corner or any responsible person of Gardeners Corner. :hehe:

I guess that the two quotes above are from the same information from the RHS. The term 'outside the law' does not necessarily mean that it is illegal - until it has been deemed so in law. This may sound like doublespeak but arguments can be put up against it being illegal. I use washing up liquid on my tomato plants because it keeps them clean!!!! I don't use it as a pesticide :rotfl:. (This argument can easily be expanded to qualify but I won't waste time doing it :D)

If you use a proprietary product you should follow directions but once again these may be open to interpretation. As I don't use them I am not sure what they say but can make a guess. The product should be diluted in the stated proportion. If they specify water as the dilutant then that is what you should use - and I would guess this is the case. I'm pretty sure that they do not say that you can't add other things once you have mixed it in the correct proportions. As long as those other things don't make it more concentrated then it is highly unlikely that you can be in contravention of the law. So diluting glyphosate according to the instructions and then mixing wallpaper paste into it should be OK as long as the use of it does not enhance the danger to 'wildlife' and can be shown to do so.

The bit in Kristen's extract from the RHS can't, logically, be correct because it would then be illegal to dilute it more than they say. Also, I don't think that anyone is expected to use dilution rates exactly. My doddery old hands can't manage that .

From a practical point of view I think that as long as you use the product in a responsible manner then you are highly unlikely to come a cropper.

I spend a lot of time, as an amateur, fighting cases against beaurocracy in public and private organisations and would love to fight a case of an ordinary gardener who is being hounded for using washing up liquid on his own veggies or any other reasonable adaptation of a product.

 

I thought that diluted detergent was a deterrent :thmb: and definitely didn't think it was an insecticide :wink:. As it hasn't been tested for that purpose I wouldn't be expected to know that :wink:

quote[What you do in your own home is up to you and your judgement of course ] end quote :gnthb: :gnthb: :yho:

Reverting to the original question. Having had a lot of experience with horsetail (equisetum arvense) and done quite a bit of research into it, it is generally accepted that it can be kept under control but unlikely to be eradicated by herbicides. Glyphosate and dichlobenil are the recognised methods of controlling it but neither claims to eradicate it. If using glyphosate the stems should be lightly crushed (breaking the cuticle layer) before application. This should be used in the manufacturers' recommended way :hehe: